This evening I went along to Mold Masonic Hall to attend the Daniel Owen Festival English lecture by Robert Lomas titled “A Secret Flowering of Skill and Genius, about how Daniel came to write Y Dreflan.“

It covered the time between Daniel coming back to Mold from Bala, his accident, and the start of his writing career.

It was an enjoyable talk, and the Mold lodges managed to raise some money for charity.

In 1881, Daniel Owen’s wrote his first original novel which was originally published in chapters in Y Drysorfa during 1879-80. In the 140+ years this important piece of Welsh literature has never been translated into English.

This was a shame, since it prevent newer generations from reading this work, even older Welsh speakers would struggle with the unique Mold Welsh in which Daniel wrote.

Robert Lomas has spent the last two years translating this book, and it is now for the first time available in English. You can pick it up from Amazon, or all sensible book stores.

(I am not just saying this because I wrote an introduction in the book)